Automatic installation for the consecutive washing and drying of cars



- June 24, 1969 F. ESPADA KYWI AUTOMATIC INSTALLATION FOR THE CONSECUTIVE WASHING AND DRYING OF CARS Filed Aug. 10, 1967 y F8 (S/340A KYWI United States Patent 3,451,094 AUTOMATIC INSTALLATION FOR THE CONSECU- TIVE WASHING AND DRYING 0F CARS Fermin Espada Kywi, 'Calle Provenza 326, Barcelona, Spain Filed Aug. 10, 1967, Ser. No. 659,802 Int. Cl. B60s 3/06 US. Cl. -302 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An installation for washing and drying cars in which a structure movable on rails is generally U-shaped and travels over the car, which is stationary, to wash and dry the latter. This structure is provided with the necessary sprinkling pipes and piping arrangement for sprinkling the car with water both for washing and for rinsing. Turboventilator units are provided on the upright branches of the U and an additional horizontal turboventilator unit is provided that stands spaced between the upright branches of the U. This bridge operates with a photoelectric system so that it follows the contour of the car as the movable structure is displaced over the car.

This invention refers to an installation adapted to carry out the consecutive washing and drying of cars and vehicles in general.

The installation of the invention is a completely compact and unitary device and provides, apart from the elements and accessories proper for the washing and rinsing operations, the required assembly to automatically carry out the consecutive drying action with which it is possible to have the vehicle ready and in the best conditions of cleanliness and brightness in an extraordinarily short time and without effort or increase in the cost of labour. The installation works in an absolutely automatic manner and the only intervention of the staff in charge is the predetermination of the structural characteristics of the vehicle in order to adapt the working of the apparatus to same, and the natural and complementary ones of the cleaning operation.

A better understanding of the invention will be had by the description that follows having references to the appended drawings which, schematically and only by way of example, illustrate a practical embodiment of the installation of the invention.

In the drawings, FIGURE 1 is a front view of the general structure which supports the washing and drying means for consecutive and automatic action; FIGURE 2 is a side elevation view of the structure, illustrating, in dotted lines, various positions of same in relation to the vehicle undergoing treatment; and FIGURE 3 i a view, partly in cross-section, of One of the groups of turboventil'ators used with the installation and which come into action in the drying phase.

The installation covered by the invention essentially consists of a metallic structure which supports the assembly of pipes, valves and other elements and accossories for the washing action and, at the same time, a specially designed series of ventilators, which will be referred to again later, for the continuous drying action. The abovementioned structure preferably travels on a pair of rails 2, fixed to the ground, and between which is located the vehicle 3 which is to be washed. The vehicle remains stationary throughout the phases of the operation.

The forward and backward movement of the structure 1 i obtained by means of electrically driven reversible motors, at a predetermined speed for the wetting and soaping phases, and at a slower pace for the drying phase. The motors are provided with corresponding reducing boxes and related equipment, assembled in a motor drive 20 and acting on the driving wheels 4.

In the installation according to the invention, the water and detergent valves (not shown) are operated by relays or electromagnets, suitably protected, which act automatically at a predetermined time. A motor driven pump unit 22 takes the water from a tank 23 in a known manner and sends it to the car washing sprinkler pipes 24 at a suitable pressure. In order to avoid unnecessary consump tion of power, the pump only works when the valves are open. Nevertheless, selective operation of the pump is foreseen, independently of the automatic working of the car washer.

The drying action is carried out by at least three groups of turboventilators, two with lateral operation 5, and the remaining one with vertical operation 6. As shown in FIGURE 3, each one of these groups is made up by multiple turbines 7 mounted on a common shaft 8 and driven by the corresponding motor 9. This arrangement permits an homogeneous output of air over the whole length of the ventilator, as shown in the drawing, and makes it posslble to avoid the use of conduits, special dispersers or deflectors which would be necessary to distribute the flow of air on the surface of the car subjected to a drying action. In the installation of the invention, air is obtained directly from the ventilators where it is generated.

As mentioned above, two groups 5 are mounted in vertical position on each side of the structure 1, besides uprights thereof, and sends the air directly on the doors, wheels and sides of the car 3, the incidence and, therefore, the drying action being also lateral. The third group 6 is arranged horizontally like a mobile lintel, between the two lateral groups, sweeping the air current over the upper part of the car, approximately on the same vertical plane as defined by the former. The joint action of the three (or more) turboventilator units creates a curtain of air which surrounds the vehicle and accelerates the evaporation of the water, coming from the washing action and lying over its surface.

In accordance with the invention, the horizontal ventilator 6 is shiftable in a vertical direction (i.e., in the direction indicated by the arrows in FIGURE 1), over the whole length of the lateral uprights of the structure 1. Two vertical rails are concealed in the upright and guide the ends of the ventilator, so that they may always be kept at the same distance from the upper surface of the vehicle 3, whatever its height may be, as shown in FIG- URE 2. This allows to adapt ventilator 6 to the difierent heights of the parts of the car and to the various types of cars that exist, the drying operation being equally efficient at all times.

The rising and lowering movement of the horizontal ventilator 6 and its adaptation to the difierent heights of the vehicle to be dried are fully automatic. For this purpose, there is provided a photoelectric cell unit 10 which automatically controls said movements in co-operation with two luminous beams facing the cells and duly protected by a metallic box.

The photoelectric cells which make up the unit 10 act on an electrically driven motor 12 with predetermined characteristics which, through duly counterweighted chains, transmits the movement to the ends of the ventilator 6, determining its rising or lowering in accordance with the height of the vehicle or of the part thereof which is subjected to drying.

The mentioned unit 10 is located precisely on one of the ends of the ventilator 6 and comprises three photoelectric cells 10', 10", 10", protected from water and from external light by a suitable protection box. As mentioned above, arranged on the opposite end of the same ventilator is a box 11 which protects the three lights which (when the drying phase is initiated) simultaneously project equal luminous beams on each one of the mentioned cells.

As auxiliary protection, the ventilator 6 is provided on both sides with safety rails (not shown) which operate corresponding switches for the automatic travel of the carwashing assembly or general structure 1, in case the former were to approach the bodywork of the car in excess and damage it by rubbing.

The operational process of the shiftable ventilator 6, characteristic of the installation described, which co-operates with the fixed ventilators 5 to establish, jointly, a curtain of air around the previously washed car, is as follows:

When the drying phase is initiated, the ventilator 6 is located at the upper end of the general structure or bridge 1, retained by the motor 12, which is also a selfreducer and brake. This position is illustrated in dotted lines at the extreme right end of FIGURE 2, that corresponds to the rear end of the vehicle. When the ventilators 7 are started by means of the corresponding motor 9, the lamps contained in the box 11 light up and the three cells 10, 10", 10", located on the opposite side, are accordingly illuminated. As aforesaid, when the cells are in this condition, they act on appropriate respective electric contactors connected with motor 12, which operates to lower the ventilator assembly.

When the cell 10", located in the lowermost position in relation to the other two cells contained in the box 11, is no longer illuminated because the corresponding luminous beam which comes from the source contained in the box 11 is interrupted by an opaque obstacle, that is by any point on the surface of the car, the motor 12 stops and the ventilator remains at the height reached when the beam is broken, even if the upper cells 10' and 10" continue to be illuminated.

The latter are arranged to cause rising of the ventilator the moment darkening of the beam corresponding tc either of them takes place, independently of what may happen to the other cell 10".

Because of the rising and lowering movements of the horizontal ventilator 6, controlled by the cells of the unit 10 in co-operation with the luminous beams coming from the lights contained in the box 11, supposing that the structure 1 is in forward and backward movement on the rails 2 (see the arrows of FIGURE 2 and the different positions represented in same), the aforesaid ventilator describes a trajectory which is faithful reproduction of the longitudinal section of the car (see the dotted arrowed line in FIGURE 2), at a predetermined safety distance from the bodywork, as can be seen from FIGURE 2. This automatic combination of both movements confers, to the drying action, absolute reliability and accuracy and a complete adaptation of the curtain of air, created by the ventilators which surround the car, to the dimensions and form thereof, that action being effective with equal efliciency on all the points of the bodywork, whether the latter be horizontal, vertical or sloped, projections or recesses.

At the end of the drying operation, the ventilator 6 rises towards the upper end (starting point) of the structure 1, where it remains until the drying arrangement begins to work for a new washing.

Provision is made for arranging equal end-of-travel switches at the extreme positions of travel of the ventilator 6, which switches cut-off feeding of the motor 12 and prevent same from remaining in operation when said ventilator reaches the mentioned positions, until the described photoelectric unit starts it again. Electrical control equipment is contained in an electrical control box 21.

Provision is also made to give motor 12 such electric characteristics as may allow it to assume a practically unlimited number of consecutive operations and even remain in short circuit without danger of damaging the windings.

The operation of the installation described, giving the 4 phases into which its automatic cycle is divided, is as follows:

(a) The bridge or structure 1 starts to move on the rails 2, starting from the extreme right position shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 2, for instance. The water valves open simultaneously and, as the apparatus advances, it sprays the whole car 3 with a strong shower of water under pressure which softens the dirt and prepares the car for the following phase;

(b) When the structure 1 reaches the extreme left position shown in solid outline in FIGURE 2, the water valves close and the detergent valves open, the structure 1 travelling back to the starting position and covering the car 3 with an emulsion of water and detergent during its travel;

(0) On reaching the end of its travel, i.e. when the structure 1 is at the starting point again, the detergent valves close and the structure 1 stays stationary for a predetermined length of time necessary for the worker to spread the detergent and rub the dirtier parts of the car;

(d) The apparatus starts to work again and the water valves .open again, this time spraying water mixed with a detensioning-polishing product for the rinsing of the bodywork, eliminating the soap which remains on it, the rinsing water system may be formed of a tank 25, water sprinkling pipes 26 and a pump 27, conventionally arranged;

(e) When the foregoing operation is over, the valves close, the lateral and upper ventilators 5, 6 start to work, and the machine moves slowly covering the car with a curtain of air which advances, sweeping the water and accelerating its evaporation until the car is completely dry, and

(f) Once the car is completely dry, the machine remains stationary in its initial position, being ready to effect a new operational cycle.

All the movements of the cycle: starting and stopping, opening and closing of valves, change of speed and of direction during operation, starting of the ventilators, etc., are effected in a completely automatic manner, controlled by a perforated card programmer. This system has the advantage that, by means of a simple change of the card, it is possible to vary the cycle and select the most suitable one for each case, at will, in accordance with the type of car which is to be treated.

I claim:

1. An automatic installation for the consecutive washing and drying of cars, comprising: a mobile structure constructed to transversely surround a car to be treated; means to move said structure over said car in both directions and at different speed; a plurality of washing and rinsing devices mounted on said structure; said structure formed of two lateral uprights connected by a transverse horizontal bridge; a turboventilator unit on each of said lateral uprights for the drying of the sides of said car to be treated; a further turboventilator unit mounted transversely of said structure for the drying of the top of said car; each of said turboventilator unit formed of a plurality of coaxial turbines and a common driving motor for said turbines of each unit whereby said car is surrounded by a flow of mobile drying air ejected by said turboventilator units; means to shift said transverse .turboventilator unit vertically as said structure advances and in accordance with the height of the various parts of said car to locate said transverse unit immediately above said parts, successively; said shifting means including a motor for shifting said transverse turboventilator unit and control means for operating said shifting motor; said control means comprising photoelectric cells at one end of said transverse unit and cooperating luminous beam source for said cells at .the other end of said transverse unit; said shifting means constructed and arranged to cause vertical displacement of said transverse unit in correspondance with the height of the part of said car being dried whereby said transverse unit describes a 5 6 trajectory following the outer contour of said car and FOREIGN PATENTS stands at a predetermined height thereabove. 1 450 998 7/1966 France 2. An automatic installation as claimed in claim 1, 1:472567 1/1967 France:

wherein said photoelectric cells are three in number each located at one corner of a downwardly pointing triangle 5 ROBERT MICHELL primary Examiner and said luminous beam sources are correspondingly arranged. U.S. Cl. X.R.

References Cited 134-423 UNITED STATES PATENTS 0 3,323,228 6/1967 Maxwell. 1 3,375,592 4/1968 Heinicke et a1. 34-87 

